Dark Chocolate Makes Your Morning Smoothies Taste Like Dessert For Breakfast

Having a nutritious and satiating breakfast can be key to starting your morning refreshed and rejuvenated. But, for as noble an idea as this is, sometimes you might have a hankering for some sweet and decadent goodies for your first meal of the day. We won't judge –- after all, there are so many delicious breakfast foods, from maple-syrup-drenched French toast to pancakes — but it's possible to satisfy that sweet tooth while also keeping your breakfast relatively healthy and wholesome. An unsung morning smoothie ingredient in achieving that is some dark chocolate.

Dark chocolate isn't a bitter version of milk chocolate. It features a higher cocoa percentage –- in fact some dark chocolate might not even contain any milk or dairy at all. Dark chocolate tends to get a bad reputation for being an acquired taste at best and unapproachable at worst, but the strength of dark chocolate's flavor actually makes it a perfect ingredient in breakfast smoothies. It's a great complement for sweeter ingredients, such as fruits and yogurt, and it's a guilt-free ingredient too by virtue of it being rich in antioxidants as well as fiber, iron, and other minerals. So, if you want a revitalizing morning boost but also want to indulge a bit, you really can achieve both at once with a dark chocolate smoothie.

Before you go and start throwing some dark chocolate into your smoothies, it's worth your time to make sure you're using a good chocolate. A great dark chocolate selection is a mix of both flavor and texture, which are, of course, both crucial to a yummy smoothie. Likewise, you can look for dark chocolate that has intense flavors beyond simply its high cocoa content. This way, you can ensure that your smoothies are even more well-rounded.

As far as other ingredients go, this is where you can really open up to ideas. Chocolate has a ton of delicious pairings, and dark chocolate specifically pairs wonderfully with certain fruits such as cherries, mangos, raspberries, and bananas (which are perfect for smoothies when frozen). In fact, bananas are a great source of natural sugars to sweeten your smoothies without adding extra sugar, and a banana-chocolate smoothie with some dates and peanut butter is a fudgy but healthy delight. And if you want a little bit of extra pep in your morning smoothie, coffee also pairs well with chocolate, and can add even more richness to some of these smoothies. Customization is the name of the game here, and a dessert-like dark chocolate smoothie is sure to make your mornings a little bit brighter and a heck of a lot more chocolatey.